Layouts of graphical elements, such as digital photographs intended for printing on products such as wall calendars, have traditionally been presented using grid or collage formats. Both of these formats have their own behaviors and limitations.
For example, grids are generally rigid, and graphical elements used therewith must typically be cropped to fit within fixed-aspect sockets in the grid. This typically requires user interaction to ensure that the desired parts of the graphical elements are shown (e.g., with photographs of people, that the person's face is not cut off from the final image). Image-processing techniques, such as face-recognition, can sometimes be used in an attempt to automatically adjust, e.g., image crop settings. However, this does not solve the root problem, namely that the graphical elements should not need to be cropped in the first place.
Collages are generally more free-form, typically allowing the full original area of the graphical elements to be maintained. However, collages are usually pre-determined to be aesthetically pleasing, and problems can arise if the graphic objects do not match the intended aspect of a given socket (e.g., a landscape vs. portrait orientation), or if they do not fit the intended look of the layout. As with grid formats, the fixed sockets of a collage are typically laid out in advance, and graphic elements must be chosen to fit the aspect ratio of each socket, or cropped or reduced in size. These are the general areas that embodiments of the invention are intended to address.